Live God's Way Today

Throughout the United Church of God, we have many individual programs and resources that have been established to serve our members. Some examples, just a few brief examples, is like the Good Works program, Life Net's program, serving some of these projects overseas where people have needs that we've been able to contribute and help with. Also, another program is our Pastor Development program that's been started for a few years back, and also the ongoing training that all of our ministry receives online and in other resources. The UCG Camp program is another such example. As I mentioned, we just returned from two different camps, and I thought I'd take some time in today's sermon to share a little bit of information about our camp program with you and some of what we went through this year in God's Word.

The need to care for our teens and our youth within the Church was considered so important at the beginning and at the establishment of United back in 1995 that it was one of the first programs initiated. I wasn't there at those meetings, but many elders have told me. Two things popped up quickly after United started that they wanted to address. One was to make sure our feast and holy days could be kept as God and as we had traditionally done, so a planning team was put together to pick locations and make sure we had reservations and facilities blocked up so we could keep the Feast of Tabernacles that fall.

The second one, because summer was right on the heels of when the men met to organize the Church, was our teen camp program, and that was started in 1995 that same summer. This past summer, the summer that we're in right now, marks the 25th summer that we've had camp programs through United.

I think next summer, because you always count one year in advance, I think next summer is actually our 25th anniversary. But if you count the first summer and the summer that we're in right now, it's been 25 years of teen camps. Our teen camp program is made up of five summer camps, which this year is serving over 500 of our teens within United.

And also, about 350 staff go to serve at these camps. So these are our young adults. Some who are in the congregation go to serve, along with other adults of all ages. And I mean of all ages. With Pinecrest, we were able to see plenty of our seniors also serving there. We also have one winter camp program up in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, that we've been able to go to for two years. We also have two challenger camp programs. These are the more advanced summer camp programs for our young adults in the church.

Those who graduate out of the teenage years still have an opportunity to go to summer camp, except for it's a more extreme camp than most of them. The two programs we have right now that alternate from summer to summer, one every two years, so that we have one every summer, is the Wilderness Backpacking Challenger program in Wyoming. It's a six-night wilderness camping trip. And also, the one that is starting this summer here in just a couple weeks is a wilderness canoeing trip up in the Boundary Waters of Minnesota. Those of you who knew of Orr, Minnesota, the camp program, back from the worldwide Church of God days, it's up in the same Boundary Waters that the canoe trips used to be kept, but now it's consisting of about another six nights in the wilderness there with all the mosquitoes and all the stories that go along with that.

And then on top of that, we have multiple international camps, which are varied depending on different nations and who's hosting those. And we also have seven preteen summer camps that go on every year, spread out throughout the nation. These are for the youth that are not teenagers yet, so age, I believe it's about five, maybe six, I can't remember the starting age now, up to age 12.

And one of the neat things with that program is it begins kind of setting the stage and the basis for our little ones that we have a lot of in here in the congregation, but teaching them about the camp program, teaching them about the zone and that environment, where they can get together with other friends, they can be led by church members and to be taught God's way.

It's brought down to a more basic level, of course. In Minnesota, we talked about the fruit of the spirit, which is a very basic concept to us, but it's also that building block for our teens to learn how the fruit, where it comes from, that it comes from God. But these attributes are all pieces of his character that he wants us to also develop and show in our lives.

And so the pre-teen camp program, to me, is on the same level of our teen program because of the importance and the teaching aspects that go into it. Some of you here actually go to Camp Buckeye and serve there as well, so you understand the pre-teen camp. In regards to our camp program, we have this as our preamble to what we do. It says, We also have a mission statement. Our mission statement says, We also have a mission statement. Our mission statement says, Which is their calling into the body of Jesus Christ and the work of the church, while learning that God's spiritual laws and practical ways of living, within our mission, are contained camper goals, staff objectives, biblical standards, and a positive message to our teens that God's way works.

Some of our camper goals that we try to establish every summer, it says the goal of the United Youth Camps is to create a proper environment where campers learn that God's way works best by, and then it has some bullet points, strengthening their personal relationship with God, learning, testing, and practicing spiritual values, including service, respect, and confidence, facing positive challenges, building godly relationships with adults and peers, experiencing success at camp, and relating their lives to the plan of God and to the work of God's church today in preaching the true gospel and in preparing a people.

And those are the camper goals. We also have staff goals. To create the zone environment, which I'll describe here in a moment, all United Youth Camp staff members seek to do the following. Teach campers spiritual values by word and practice, keep campers safe, make activities fun, support the structure established at camp in a positive manner, and initiate positive relationships with as many campers as possible. And as I mentioned about the zone, for those of you not familiar with it, I like to call it kind of a hedge or foundation, a wall that we put around our camp programs for all the campers that come.

Everybody understands who comes, whether you're a staff or a camper, understands what the zone is. They actually sign a piece of paper saying that they would apply the principles of the zone, and of course God's word, in how they handle themselves at camp. And at times we have to kind of lean on that and remind campers who may be misbehaving that they sign this agreement, that they put their name to it, so that because this zone protects the camp, it protects an environment that we want to foster, which is all based on God's word and the principles we're to live our lives.

And so the zone itself is a tool that we have come up with that encourages the right attitude. And when everybody stays within the zone, camp is a success.

It's when somebody wants to step outside of the zone. Somebody wants to start behaving in ways that do not fit with God's standards, that we run into challenges there at camp. The seven elements of the zone are first, fun. Second, challenge, followed by success, support, inclusiveness, structure, and finally, positive relationships. We break each one of those into additional sub-points, which I won't go through today, but we have a full page on actually more than that of aspects of the zone that we establish and that the campers work within.

I can't speak for all of our camps since there's so many and they're so vast, but I can give an overview of our Pinecrest, Missouri camp. That's the one there that we went to just a few weeks ago. Pinecrest is located in the foothills of the Ozark Mountains in southeast Missouri. It's a little bit of a drive from here, but it's not too bad. As with all of our camps, it's a biblically-based camp first, where we offer Christian living talks, Bible classes, and also Q&A sessions, where the campers can ask staff and ask us spiritual questions that they have or challenges that they face living God's way today.

And so we break this out to where they have plenty of the spiritual aspect. But we also present the campers with a wide range of activities, such as softball, volleyball, speed away, which is a field game, which if you've been to camp, you understand it.

If you don't, then you have no idea what I'm talking about. I have to ask somebody where that even, because did we make that up? I'm looking at one of our staff who's been a camper forever, I think. She's giving me the shrug. She's not sure. We also do archery, riflery, swimming, paddle boarding, and rock climbing on actual real rock. Not the indoor climbing wall, but we go out with the ropes and everything else, and we were able to actually go to the site for the first time this year.

Mrs. Phelps and I were able to, and it's quite exhilarating to see what they can do on live rock with the campers, especially the brand new ones that are 12 and 13, and their eyes are this big, when they realize they're going to be climbing real rock. We also do dance classes, and one that's unique to Pinecrest is journalism, and I'll talk a little bit more about that as we get through, that we get going through with the message.

And of course, the number one request of all of our campers at every program, I think, is more fellowship time. I think if we did a camp of nothing but just fellowship, where they could get together, hang out, play, talk, we would still, on our surveys at the end, they would want more fellowship time. This is one of the things that they really enjoy, and so we try not to have too many activities. Some camps really like to go the activity route. I believe there should be a balance, because they really do enjoy that time.

And it also is they're fostering these relationships, and as we'll read in the journal, I'll share with you here, they also talk about spiritual matters when they get together, and that's an important aspect of what we want them to do. This is our Pinecrest Journal. We have staff. He used to be an English teacher, professor, actually. Now he's a minister within United. Him and his wife manned our journalism department, and they put together this Pinecrest Journal, where different staff members can write articles about summer camp, what they've liked and things that they've overcome.

And all of our teens do as well. Every single teen will write an article. Some of them will make it into the journal. Others are just shared with everyone. I'd like to read with you or go through a couple of these articles that were written by our campers. So this is not staff. This is not teen staff. These are from our campers directly. I'll read just three as we start out. This one's titled, Camp is...Joy. This camper writes, and this is a female camper, As the time for Camp Pinecrest drew closer, excitement levels skyrocketed.

It seemed as if camp could not come soon enough. Although camp is extremely cherished and looked forward to, one may always experience a level of uncertainty and nervousness. You finally arrive at camp. The van door opens and you step foot into a home away from home. All those butterflies, all those feelings of uncertainty and doubt, fly away and are replaced with a rushing feeling of home, of joy and of love and of feeling you belong.

You are bombarded with hugs, laughter and uncontrollable smiles. Camp is not camp without the feeling of comfort that everybody at camp is working together toward a common goal. Camp is seeing your friends dancing on first base while you are trying to bat and you cannot help but smile.

Camp is the little things like getting food on the table and then laughing with such force at your friends and you cry. Camp is the conversation about becoming part of God's family and becoming closer to your brothers and sisters. Camp is an attitude and a journey. That's from one camper. Another, this one's called Finding Acceptance. Another female camper says, I have been attending UCG Church Services for a year, so about one year. When somebody brought up the idea of me attending Camp Pinecrest, I immediately started coming up with excuses about why I couldn't go.

The thought was ludicrous. Why would I want to go where everybody knows everyone and has been friends for years? I was going to be an outsider, but I couldn't have been farther from the truth. After a long car ride, I arrived at Camp Pinecrest, which was waiting with open arms. The few people I knew started to introduce me to their friends, and before I knew it, I was making my own.

The campers were all sitting outside in front of the lake, the steaming sun shining down on us, and no breeze coming from the full and tall trees standing stout all around us. People running in all directions, talking to old and new friends. The laughter and joy seemed to be contagious as it was radiating off the campers. Later on that night, we were separated into our dorms, where our counselors had created a warm and safe environment. The night ended with multiple girls sitting on one bed, crunching together as the counselors told stories of their favorite camp memories.

It was then I realized why Camp Pinecrest is a second home to so many campers. I was able to create godly relationships with each of my new sisters. And the third one, this is from another female camper, and it's entitled, Beautiful.

Last night was the first night of dorm parents. Our dorm parents, and for you that are not familiar, dorm parents are usually a couple, a husband and a wife, who each night comes through the dorm and sits there as parents for the dorm. We talk about things that they have questions about, ask them how their day is going, we interact with the counselors if needed.

We're just another part of the support that we can offer. It says, our dorm parents started out discussion with a scripture which talked about how everything God created is beautiful. We also talked how everything God created was good. After this discussion and a night to think on it, I have noticed more of the many things that makes us all unique, beautiful and extremely talented in our own way. Many of us are encouragers, many more of us are listeners, and there are those few who are funny and can bring smiles to others around them.

Yet while we are all different, we are beautiful and good just as God has designed us. I wanted just to share some towards the end of the message, too, of what our campers personally write themselves about our camp program and why we're so blessed here in Flint to have so many young adults and teens that can be part of the program because it truly is a blessing for the United Church of God. As many of our teens attended one of our summer camps, I thought it would be good to share with you today our Christian living theme that we used this year so you can see and understand what we share with our campers as we dive into God's Word at camp.

The overall theme for the Christian living sessions this year was, live God's way today. Live God's way today. That's the overarching theme that we had. And then we take that theme and we break it into five sub-themes that we can study each day. Our teens are surrounded by all types of influences that most of the time are not pointing them in the right direction to go in life. I think each of us could say very similar things even about our personal adult lives as well. We turn on the TV, we pick up a magazine, you open your social media feed.

I would say very rarely do you feel spiritually encouraged or provided a direction to go that would lead you closer to God. It's a rare occurrence that we are exposed to things that point us to God in His way of life. This is why we wanted to focus our Christian living sessions on living God's way today. Not tomorrow, not when you're an adult, not after you become baptized, but today. It's important that we encourage our teens and our youth to live God's way today. Each of us have to actively choose to live a way of life that is pleasing to God in the face of a society that, for the most part, is walking further and further away from God.

As we use the Live God's Way Today theme, as I mentioned, we broke it out into five sub-themes. The five sub-themes are, was it always this way? The second one was learn to discern. Third was God's way works. The fourth was transform, don't conform. And the fifth was be a light. I'd like to spend the remainder of the time with you to review each of these sub-themes so that you can understand what we covered and hopefully encourage you as well. Because God's Word is alive and it's powerful.

And while we sometimes will think that we break it down for our teens and our youth in a more simple way to help them understand, I think all of us at times need to go back to the basics, need to go back to those fundamentals to remind ourselves of the simplicity of God. That He didn't make this complex to where we can't, of course, understand these things.

And often, if you haven't been to camp, you think we break it down maybe too simply. But our teens are smart. Our teens have a lot of them grown up in the church. They've learned this way since you started working with your children. And so they get a lot of these concepts. And so we're able to actually dive in deeper with some of these things with them.

And some of the questions they come back with catch me on my heels sometimes as well. But as we're instructed, we'll dive into some of these. The first, again, camp started out Sunday afternoon, so we shared the first Christian living class on Monday morning. And again, the sub-theme was, was it always this way? Our society all around us is in rapid moral decline. The foundation that you and I use to build and guide our lives on is under serious attack. Whether we talk about marriage, or family, or masculinity, or femininity, the Bible, or even truth. What is truth anymore?

That's a question our campers come up with and brought to our attention. What is truth? Because everybody's defining truth differently. And none of it, very little of it, is based on God's Word, which is a source of truth. Everybody has their ideas, everybody has their reasons, and they call it a truth, but our truth, God's Word, the foundation of life, is under attack because people don't want to believe it's a source of truth.

But was it always this way? How did God intend mankind to live our lives? We must start back at the beginning to understand this, as Mr. Petty did with the BT Daily that we watched. And look at the beginning. In Genesis, let's go and start looking at Genesis chapter 1 today. All the way back at the beginning, because was it always intended to be this way? The lives and the world and society that you and I are part of.

Genesis 1, and we'll start reading in verse 26. As you know, this is after the creation account, or towards the end of the creation account, that we pick up the story here in Genesis 1, verse 26.

Mr. Petty alluded to this, but we'll actually read the passage. Genesis 1, verse 26, it says, Then God said, Let us make man in our image according to our likeness. Let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth. So God created man in His own image. In the image of God, He created him male and female.

He created them. And then God blessed them. Let's not lose sight what it says right there. Then God blessed them. And God said to them, Be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth and subdue it. Have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth. There is no other creature on this planet created in the image of God other than you and me, sitting here today in the rest of humanity that it lives and has ever lived.

Verse 29, God said, See, I have given you every herb that yields seed which is on the face of the earth, and every tree whose fruit yields seed, and it shall be for food. Also, to every beast of the earth, to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, which is there in his life, I have given every green herb for food, and it was so. Then God saw everything that he had made, and indeed it was very good. It was very good. That was the way that God intended it to be from the very beginning, that it was very good.

So the evening and the morning were the sixth day, and that's the sixth day of creation. Let's flip ahead to Genesis 2 and verse 15, continue picking up the story. Then the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.

And we'll flip ahead now to Genesis 3 verse 1, because we know what happens. We know the story. We've read it a thousand times. Our youngest children here can probably repeat it back to me. It says, Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, Has God indeed said, You shall not eat of every tree of the garden? And the woman said to the serpent, We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden, but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God had said, You shall not eat of the garden.

You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die. Then the serpent said to the woman, The greatest probably lie ever been told, You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day that you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil. The way that society is today, our lives go, and the influence that Satan has over the world is not the way that God designed it in the beginning.

It wasn't what he intended it to be. God intended mankind to follow him and for him to be their God, but he gave mankind free moral agency to choose what mankind would do. And now, moving fast forward to our time today, the same inward human desire to make our own choices in this life that we saw from the very beginning, mankind still has today. It's not one iota different.

Just like it was at the beginning, it still is today. That you and I have an inward nature that wants to do things our way, wants to go our path, wants to go to the beat of our drum, and this is still the way that we all are and humanity has always been. Human nature gives into the temptation, and Satan has influenced the choices that mankind has made from the very beginning. The passage from Ephesians 2 and verse 1 speaks to this influence that Satan has over the whole world since mankind has existed.

Ephesians 2 and verse 1. As we start to read this passage, you'll recognize the Apostle Paul speaking to those who had lived previously sinful lives, that they were now Christians walking a new path, but he's reminding them of where they came from. That's a good reminder for you and I to consider that, too. When we weigh out, has it always been this way? We've grown up and we've been born into a society that has had Satan's influence from the moment we took our first breath. We've never had a moment where it wasn't influenced by Satan. So in our mind, this has been how it's always been.

But it wasn't the intention of God from the beginning. Ephesians 2, verse 1, the Apostle Paul says, And you he made alive who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience.

And he's referring exactly here to Satan the devil. He says, We know that Satan has greatly influenced mankind to follow the path of sin. And we know that he hates God's plan to bring many sons to glory. Obviously, we can't ignore the reality around us that we live in a world of serious moral problems. But Galatians 1, verse 3, reminds us that we're not alone and that we're not without hope.

Turn back one book to Galatians chapter 3, or Galatians 1, excuse me, verse 3. Again, Paul says in Galatians 1, verse 3, Even though God did not desire that we live under the sway of Satan, he is provided a way for each of us to escape Satan's grasp as a God created us to be good. At the beginning, everything God created was indeed very good. It was not always the way it is today. So what are we as Christians to do? This opening Christian living session leads directly into the next four subthemes that we talked with our campers. On Tuesday morning, we focused on the second subtheme, which again was learn to discern.

We each know young and older like how difficult it is to stand up against a culture that surrounds us as we develop and we grow. Even if we acknowledge, as we just covered, that this isn't how God wanted us and society to be, it can still struggle, be a huge struggle to be different. Several weeks back in the sermon I shared with you about the spiritual importance of discernment, in that message we defined discernment as the quality of being able to grasp and comprehend what is obscure. Things that seem invisible to us, but that we can discern them through God's Word, through living life, through applying Scripture accordingly.

At camp, we encourage the teens to learn how to discern truth from error, light from darkness and good from evil. But we each know how tricky and deceiving Satan is and how he deceives the whole world, and that includes us sitting right here today if we do not learn how to discern. Each one of us here must acknowledge that we have struggled at times knowing the right course of action that we should take in life.

Things like what to say, how to say it, or even how to view certain things in society as a measure up to God's standard. It's not really much different than a period of time in Israel's history that we have captured in the book of Judges. We won't turn there, but I'll give you a reminder of it.

In the book of Judges, it captures God's nation of Israel caught up in a revolving cycle of rebellion against God. Israel would then get caught up in society around them and their own human nature and would be suppressed by others around them. They would go into types of captivity or types of maybe just oppression around them. They would cry out to God. They would ask for his help, and then God would send a judge to deliver the people. At the end of each of these cycles, we see from Scripture that everyone did what was right in their own eyes eventually again.

They went back to their old ways. They went back to their own thought. They went back to the influences of society around them because life got better for them again. God was leading them. God was helping them. And at times, even in our own nation today, we can have times of prosperity where it seems like maybe we don't need God as much as we do at other times.

Things seem to be going okay, and that's a dangerous place to allow our minds to slip into. Each person in this case in Judges, each person would choose for themselves what they would do, and the nation as a whole did not learn to discern right from wrong. And as we have captured in Scripture, the nation would repeat this cycle over and over again. How do you and I make sure that we don't follow our own thinking or the thinking of society?

How do we make sure to follow God in a society that does not? Ultimately, we have to be able to see the difference between things. Things that are even sometimes obscure. And again, it's critical as Christians that we learn to discern between right and wrong because we're told... and you can turn here... 1 Corinthians 6, verses 1-4. 1 Corinthians 6, so a couple books back again.

1 Corinthians 6, verses 1-4. But as you turn there, we're told that we will be expected to discern right and from wrong and to be able to judge. 1 Corinthians 6, verses 1.

Here, there's an issue that the Apostle Paul is addressing, those who were actually taking their brothers within the church, within the body of Christ, to court, to dispute matters, one suing and the other. And I'm so thankful that it's a rare occurrence that these types of things happen within our congregations today. But he's addressing it because it was a real problem. It was one that was brought to his attention. Here in 1 Corinthians 6, verses 1, he says, Dare any of you, having a matter against another, go to all before the unrighteous and not before the saints.

He's saying, you're willing to step outside of our protection here, of God's way leading us, to let someone else determine what you should do in this situation. You're not going to let God lead you. You're not going to let God be his word to discern right from wrong and for you to be spiritual enough that you can make these decisions. Verse 2, he says, Do you not know that the saints will judge the world?

And if the world will be judged by you, are you unworthy to judge the smallest matters? Do you not know that we shall judge angels? How much more are things that pertain to this life? If then you have judgments concerning things pertaining to this life, do you appoint those who are least esteemed by the church to judge? He's reminding them again, we have a calling that includes being able to discern right from wrong, and at some point in the future to be able to judge, to cast a decision, a judgment on other people's lives, and says the saints will judge the world.

It's not a matter that we should ever take lightly, and as we're physical human beings today, we must learn to discern right from wrong, as King Solomon was able to do in his wisdom, because we have the wisdom and the knowledge of God sitting in our laps. We have his Holy Spirit in our lives, or if you're not yet baptized, working with your life.

And so we can never take these things lightly, as we must learn to discern, and as we encourage our campers to consider and to do as well. At times, discernment can be a bit tricky in a society that is constantly redefining what is right and wrong. At Pine Crest, during one of our Q&As, we address the topic of tolerance and acceptance. Three words that have been grouped together and you see all over the place, but in my view, has been hijacked. There's a different meaning to tolerance and acceptance and the way that it should be handled in society today.

But I'll ask you a question. Is tolerance and acceptance Biblical? Is tolerance and acceptance Biblical? It all depends on what we're supposed to tolerate and to accept in this life. Are we tolerating and accepting of the ways that God created us each unique? People of different races. People of different genders. People with different hair color, nose shape, or ear shape, or even of different heights.

What about people at different stages of life or at different stages of age? Should we be tolerant and accepting of these things? Absolutely. God created us unique. These are the ways that God created mankind, so therefore tolerance and acceptance is Biblical. But God does not expect us to be tolerating and accepting of what He defines as sin. This is the case in point why discernment is so important for Christians today. Because tolerance and acceptance is Biblical, but within the framework that God has established and how He defines right from wrong.

So you can see, even with discernment, that this is tricky at times because society defines things differently, maybe, than it has been in the past. I think often, as Christians, we are caught on our heels, often trying to adjust, trying to explain, trying to defend God and the way we live our lives with a society that is constantly changing the rules of the game. Imagine if you were out playing a sport and constantly the rules are changing as you're actively playing it. I feel like that's often what we are doing in this life as Christians. Satan is running amok, changing everything that he can, adding confusion and new terms, new definitions.

Words are being hijacked. That used to mean one thing, and now they're being used as weapons against those of us who want to follow God's Word. And so discernment is such an important aspect of our calling. So again, how do we discern? Well, let's turn back to 1 Corinthians 1 and verse 12. Actually, we are in 1 Corinthians. Let's just go back to chapter 1. 1 Corinthians 1 and verse 12.

How do you and I discern?

This is 2 verse 12. 1 Corinthians 2 verse 12. Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God. These things we also speak, not in words which man's wisdom teaches, but which the Holy Spirit teaches. We don't get wrapped up in what society thinks, the new great thinkers and the new philosophies and different things that come around. We don't get caught up in man's wisdom, but as it goes on to say, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him. We asked our teens, have you ever been caught in a foolish discussion with somebody about God's way or about the principles that you live your life by? Hands went up. They're being bombarded by counter-arguments on religion, counter-arguments on morality, counter-arguments on human makeup, of gender issues, of identity issues. That people bombard them all the time with things, these foolish discussions, because they know the truth. They have the foundation of God's Word. Paul goes on continuing the thought in verse 14. What a powerful gift that we have been given through our commitment that we've made through baptism to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. We can discern truth from error and to encourage the teens to do that as well as they continue to live their life. From the second sub-theme of Learn to Discern, we then pivoted on Wednesday to the third sub-theme, which is God's way works. God's way works. God desires that we have life and that we have it abundantly. This is why He gave us guidelines and laws that we are to live our lives by. It's not because God wants to just control each of us. It's not because He wants to keep us under His thumb. It's the same reason that each of us with children provided to them stability, provided them a safe environment to grow. And we taught them the good way to live life. Why? Because we just wanted to control our kids? No, it's because we love them. And here in a congregation, we love all of our children. We love all of our family. You can put on your notes John 10, verse 10, where Christ says, I have come that they may have life and that they may have it more abundantly.

Because Christ came and gave of His own life because of the sins of the world were so great. He then presented Himself as that offering Father gave His only Son for the world, for everyone, because of that sin that has been so a part of this society around us. But because Christ came, He wants us to live life more abundantly, to go a new direction, to go and give and to receive everything that God wants us to have. God wants us to consider and understand that there are great benefits to living God's way. But what do we see all around us? Failed marriages, confusion in people choosing their gender or identity, name calling and accusations, theft of other people's money and belongings, inequality, and hatred based on race or ethnic background. God did not want mankind to suffer or to lead meaningless lives. He wanted in the past and still desires today that we be healthy and that we be happy and live interesting lives of learning and of growing and overcoming challenges. This is why God gave us a way to live life that works when we yield to His guidance and laws. Let's look at Deuteronomy 10 and verse 12 as a reminder. Deuteronomy 10 and verse 12 and 13.

Deuteronomy 10 verse 12. And now Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you? But to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways and to love Him, to serve the Lord your God with all of your heart and with all of your soul, and to keep the commandments of the Lord and His statutes, which I command you today, for your good. Three little words that I think sometimes get lost in religion today. It's not a set of rules just to govern our lives so that we're under oppression or under an authority. It's not just a set of laws to keep us under the thumb of God, but it's for our good. And if God says that we are willing to follow Him and live this type of life, He says the Lord your God will make you abound in all the works of your hand, in the fruit of your body, in the increase of your livestock, in the produce of your land for good. That's a reference to Deuteronomy 30 and verse 9. That God says if you will walk my path and if you will follow my teachings my ways, blessings will come. These are promises from God that this is the way to live life and that we will live it abundantly. Each of us sitting here have been able to learn and to discern that God's way works. If not, we wouldn't be here today on His Sabbath day. We would be choosing our paths. We'd be going a different direction. But because God has called you and opened your eyes to His truth, you have discerned that this is the way that we must live life. And so as we leave here, we must keep on the forefront of our mind that we must live in a society that doesn't want to believe that God's way works.

And this is why it's so important that you and I transform and don't conform to this world, which was our Thursday Christian Living session. Transform. Don't conform. We have received an incredible calling in this life. God has offered us an opportunity to be part of His family right now. All of us, baptized, we are part of that family. And He has offered us the gift of eternal life, but it's up to us to choose.

Romans 12, verse 1.

I wanted to share just our Christian Living topics with everyone because a lot of thought and prayer and inspiration from God went into these topics. And it's important as we come back from camp, whether we're staff or campers, for our family to know what we were talking about and things that you can learn from it as well, but also that you can talk to the teens about, that you can understand the direction that the program is going. You can be aware so that future years or for the camps that are still going on, you can pray for them. That you can be aware that this is the direction that we try to achieve, letting God lead us. We see His hand and His inspiration all over it. And so I wanted to share what we go over as an encouragement, as a reminder for you teens that went this summer, and staff, but also for our whole family. Romans 12 and verse 1, considering that we have this calling to transform. Paul here says, As we allow God to live and to work in our life, we have an amazing opportunity to show others around us how it is possible to choose what is right and to live that beautiful example of our elder brother, Jesus Christ. And again, all this goes back to what we covered previously, in that God wants the very best for every person that has ever lived and ever will live. He doesn't want bad things to happen in life, but that we seek after what is good, what is helpful, what is truthful in life. And in doing, so gain the blessings that he wants us to have. And we know the transformation we make in our lives doesn't earn us salvation and an entrance into God's kingdom. Salvation is a gift from God. Let's turn forward to Ephesians 2 and verse 8 as a reminder. This was actually not part of our Christian living, but it's an important reminder for us to consider. Because sometimes we get critiqued that we do what we do so that we can earn salvation. And that's a mistake for us to either be categorized that way or to think that ourselves, because we can't earn salvation. Ephesians 2 and verse 8 says, It says, By grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves. It's nothing that you and I can physically do. It says, It is the gift of God, not by of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

Again, we can't earn salvation, but those with faith in God will live a transformed life. Not one that is conforming to the influence of Satan and the pressures of society. But is this easy for you and me to do? Is it easy for us to swim upstream? I think it gets harder every year that life goes on for all of us.

Again, as we have already read, Paul says, Present your bodies a living sacrifice. A living sacrifice. That means we have to be willing to give, to pay through our life. He says, Present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. Sacrifice hurts. Sacrifice isn't normally fun. And that's what we are called to do, to be willing to give of our lives, to hurt when other people are winning, to be cheated at times when other people have the advantage, and to still do the right thing. We know this sacrifice and transformation involves our whole body and our whole mind. Therefore, we must guard our bodies against the lush of the flesh, regardless of what they are. And we must guard our minds so sinful thoughts are not planted, then they are not given room to grow, and then become established with firm roots in our minds. We can't allow these things to happen. We must evaluate our motivation in life. Is it to conform to pressures around us? Or are we motivated to transform our lives by allowing God's Spirit to reside and work powerfully in our lives? And for the last sub-theme that we shared on Friday, we focused with the importance of the teens, the importance to be a light. To be a light. As followers of God, we are to have no part with darkness. As we examine with the teens all week, we are in the midst of a battle between the forces of good and evil, between the forces of light and darkness. The only way to drive back darkness is with light. Our lives, our actions, our words should be that bright light or beacon shining brightly in the darkness of evil around us. Let's turn to 1 John 1, verse 5.

1 John 1 and verse 5.

Apostle John shares this about Jesus Christ and about God. 1 John 1, verse 5. This is the message which we have heard from him and declare to you that God is light and in him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with him and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus Christ, his Son, cleanses us from all sin. As we know, light is represented by what is good, what is pure, what is holy and reliable. The statement, God is light, means that God is perfectly holy and true and that he alone can guide us out of the darkness of sin.

Each day during the Christian living class, first we start off in the morning with about 30 minutes of these topics that I've covered with you in brief. But then in the evening, each night, we have a campfire at Pinecrest, thankfully because of the heat. It's a video campfire, so we don't have to go out with the mosquitoes and the heat. One night we do that, and I'm never going to schedule myself for that, because we do go out one night and actually have a real campfire.

But we have a campfire, flames above the speaker's head, but each night we get back together to kind of recap the day. We usually have some fun events that go on, but each night the speaker who addressed the Christian living topic for that morning comes back up with an illustration to kind of drive the point home again as we wrap up the night. This was my, Be a Light, Christian living session for camp.

I had the inspiration, thanks to God, to take a piece of Michigan with me to Pinecrest. We were the only Michiganders there in Missouri, and so I looked up some facts about lighthouses, because, as you are very aware of, Michigan is known for our lighthouses.

Fun fact, you may not know, there are over 3,200 miles of shoreline around the outside of Michigan, both the mainland and the UP. It's like driving, and I had to look this up, it's like driving from Miami, Florida to Seattle, Washington. Which, when you put it that way, it doesn't seem like it adds up. I had to pull the map back out and say, is this real? But I found it on multiple Michigan websites, so it must be true, right? It wasn't Wikipedia. This came from our state.

Over 3,200 miles of shoreline, and Michigan claims more lighthouses than any other state. One map I found had over 129 identified lighthouses that you can go and tour, or at least see. Some of them are not open to the public, but 129 on one map. And I don't know if that's every last lighthouse, but it's a lot for one state. We often think about lighthouses as simple structures, but when you consider the purpose and importance of lighthouses, there really isn't anything simple or common about them. Lighthouses have protected our coasts and guided countless number of sailors back to the safe harbors that they left, back to their families, back to locations that they knew were where their homes were.

We each know for a lighthouse to function its intended purpose, there has to be a source of light from within the lighthouse that shines out. For you and me, God must be that source of light from within. This is the illustration I used with them in the evening. First, we talked about some of the principles of being a light. But to drive home the point, God inspired that lighthouse analogy, and what a beautiful one it is.

Because a lighthouse stands alone in the dark, shining a beacon out into the water to warn of dangers, but also to show the path home. What's interesting is if you look up the different lighthouses of Michigan, and I made a slideshow. I didn't bring it today, of course. But I took a slideshow and put up about 12 to 15 different lighthouses, all from Michigan, which was cool.

Because you can pull lighthouses from all across the nation, but we have so many here in our home state now that you can just put those up. And everyone was different. Some were taller, some were skinnier than others. One was black and white striped, big stripes, not the skinny ones. One kind of looked like a candy cane, white and red, that was swirling along the sides at an angle. Some were built into beautiful homes. Others stood alone on a point.

One was even on its own pier out in the water with no connection to land. The only way to get to it is by boat. All types of lighthouses, all unique, all different, but all serving one point. And that's to be that beacon, that light that shines forth. And you and I are like those lighthouses, all different, all unique lives, unique experiences, struggles, challenges that have shaped our lives, overcoming, so that we can be different than maybe our past was.

And yet we are all instructed to be that light, to be that warning sign for the world, so that they can see that the path that they're heading isn't going to bring them happiness, but to also be that beacon that welcomes people home, shows them a way to live in a way that is good. And so it's a beautiful example, and I appreciate that God inspired me to share it with the teens, because there is no room in God's character for the acts of darkness.

He is light. He is love. He is truth. He is just, and He is merciful. All of these things are in opposition to darkness, and yet these characteristics of God illuminate the darkness. They reveal it for what it is. Let's turn again to Ephesians, this time in chapter 5 and verse 8.

Ephesians 5 and verse 8. Paul says, Paul says, Paul says, Paul says, Paul says, Paul says, Paul says, Paul says, Paul says, Paul says, Paul says, Paul says, Paul says, Paul says, Paul says, Paul says, Paul says, Paul says, Paul says, Paul says, Paul says, Paul says, Paul says, Paul says, Paul says, Paul says, Paul says, Paul says, Paul says, As Christ has come to be a light into the world, to illuminate the darkness, we have also been given a commission to do the same.

Matthew 5, verse 14, says, You are the light of the world, a city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden, nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father in heaven. As I conclude today's message, I'd like again to share a couple of the writings from our campers.

Because it's easy for us to get up in front of them and share this type of a message, these Christian living themes. It's easy for us to break them down into five sub-themes, into scripture, and to try to offer our encouragement. Because life is hard, life is heavy, life is confusing, very confusing right now. Not only for our teens, but for them.

But this is some of the things that they also wrote, more of a spiritual nature than I first read at the beginning. Same journal, but let me read some of the comments some other writers wrote. This is from another young lady. It says, From Reunions to Prayers is her title. At camp each year, I return to continue building and improving my relationships with friends and with our Father. Camp Pinecrest has been no different so far. Today, we had an hour of fellowship, and through this time, I typically float from group to group, getting to know many people with volleyballs, basketballs, and gaga balls, sometimes chaotically shooting around.

But instead, I found myself talking with a very close friend about baptism. And it's been such an important goal in each of our lives. We discussed how attending camp has strengthened our faiths, and how we are not simply thinking baptism is something we will do eventually, but how we are seriously pursuing it. Reflecting back on this deep and important conversation and others I have had, I have come to desire more of this kind of talk with my Father. Sometimes, I am exhausted at my typical prayer time, and it ends up being more like babbling than an actual deep conversation.

As I continue to learn and grow in my relationships with friends and God, my goal is to make my prayers meaningful. I am looking forward to the remainder of this week at Camp Pinecrest, where we will definitely learn more about prayer. This is from another young lady. Young ladies tend to be better writers, I think, as a teenager. The best part of camp. I say that carefully because there are a lot of boys who wrote in here, too, but these are the ones I picked out.

They happen to be just from the ladies. This young lady wrote, the best part of camp. Camp is something that I have always loved over the years, but the camp itself isn't what makes the experience amazing for me. It's the people.

Sure, I love the activities like archery, swimming, and dance, but I think the best part is all the fantastic campers who are all individually different, yet the same, in that they believe the same as us and are part of our family. Friendship is one of the most important things I value in life. I tend to build my life around the friendships of those around me. Camp makes a great place to meet new friends and reconnect with old ones.

And the best part is that every single camper here is someone who is willing to build you up and never put you down or make fun of you. Every time I have come to camp, I always have been afraid of what others would think of me and if I'd even make friends. By the time I leave camp, I have so many memories and friendships built with so many people that I have forgotten of all the fear that was in my mind to start.

This year, I'm looking forward to spending time and making new memories with all of my current friends, as well as meeting new friends who will impact me for the rest of my life. And the final one to share with you is from another young lady. It's called a race of endurance. Today, my dorm journeyed over to the baseball field to play softball.

As we begin playing the eventful game, I realized that this sport was extremely tiring, but we must endure and finish the game, no matter how hard it felt. This was totally worth it, as it was a lot of fun and taught me more about the game than I previously knew. This story can relate to our walk towards the Kingdom. Sometimes our journey can be tiring, even stressful at times, but we can endure in our journey.

Because of the choice of continuing on, we will receive benefits that are unimaginable. She goes on to say, Paul writes in Hebrews 12, verse 1, Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance that is set before us. She finishes by saying, even with our struggles we face, which often involve sin, we must endure and overcome with our minds set on the Kingdom.

I assure you, it will be the best choice you could ever make. It truly is an honor and a privilege to serve our teens at camp and have the opportunity to share God's word with them. I encourage you, as you have opportunity to talk to our teens, to please ask them about their camp experiences, and as you have opportunities in the future, consider serving at our camp programs. As you can see from these closing comments, God is working with our children, and He's calling them to be part of His family.

Our children go to camp one week out of the year normally. The other 51 weeks, they're in our homes. They're in our congregations. We have the opportunity to encourage our teens and young adults who serve at camp by understanding what they learn at camp, to understand more about the camp programs so that we can relate with them on a level that maybe you couldn't before.

I hope that what I have shared with you today will help you to understand that aspect a little bit more. And I hope it does encourage you as well to continue that daily fight that we all struggle, that fight against Satan and sin that each of us battle against. And as we continue this fight, both young and old, I hope that we will continue with that endurance that that young lady wrote about and make it to the end of our journey, which is the kingdom of God.